Sacrament in Timeless Path
by Radiant Pencil
Summary: Seized by a strange empathy, Marisa seeks to somehow introduce Flandre into everyday society. Can she undo the damage caused by 495 lonely years in the Scarlet Mansion's basement? Or will all of Gensokyo feel Flandre's vengeance?
1. Prologue

Sacrament in Timeless Path

Prologue

It was dark in the basement of Scarlet Devil Mansion. It was dark and had been dark for as long as she could remember. With no sun and no moon to gauge the passing of time, she was curious about the date. It wasn't unusual for Flandre to be ignorant of what day, month or even year it was currently but every now and then she wanted to know how long she had been in the basement. It had been so long since Remilia had come down to visit her.

She picked up one of the few toys she had that wasn't broken: a teddy bear with a flowery dress and spring bonnet. She cradled it like a baby for a time and then held it close to her face.

"Daffodil, what day is it?" asked Flandre.

The bear's two black button eyes stared wordlessly up at her.

"Daffodil, what month is it?" asked Flandre, her eyebrows starting to furrow.

The stuffed bear remained silent.

"Daffodil! Do you even know what year it is?" shouted Flandre.

If the bear gave a reply, it was never heard because the girl in the red dress ripped it apart with a sudden violent motion. She tore off the arms and legs and finally threw the disembodied head across the room. She sat on the floor, scattering the stuffing with the swish of air that came from her skirt. She was mad. Oh, she was so mad. If she could get out of the basement, there would be no end to the things she'd tear apart! No end!

But she couldn't.

She wouldn't.

Her sister had said to stay in the basement. And in the basement she would stay.

A sudden noise forced her out of her angry reverie. It had sounded like a cat. Flandre shook her head; there couldn't possibly be a cat here in the basement. Remilia had long ago forbidden Flandre to have any living creatures. They would just end up like poor Daffodil, broken and scattered to the corners of the vast basement.

She heard a soft mewing again and all of Flandre's anger was forgotten as she went in search of the cat who could not possibly be there. She threaded her way through some old forgotten furniture and passed a stack of crates when she thought she saw a flick of a tail. Delighted, she squeezed through the large crates until she reached a cold stone wall...and something else.

It was about the height of an average person and vaguely oval in shape. It was black, blacker than night, blacker even than the farthest corner of the basement. The edges seemed to shimmer with a faint, reddish light. Flandre stood transfixed, uncertain of what to do. She had never seen anything like this. As she was staring into its lightless depths, it seemed as though a dozen monstrous red eyes opened up out of the darkness to stare at her.

It never occurred to her to be afraid.

Flandre heard the cat's meow once more, seemingly from inside the strange thing in front of her. Without another thought, she plunged headlong into the door-like void.


	2. Chapter One

Sacrament in Timeless Path

Chapter One

A lone figure sitting on a broom soared through the darkening sky over the Forest of Magic. After a time, she dipped skillfully through the trees and slowed to a halt in front of her house, the Kirisame Magic Shop.

The door creaked open and with weary steps, Marisa walked inside. It had been a long day and she took off her shoes gratefully. She placed her large, frilly witch's hat on top of a huge pile of papers. It was too much for the stack to bear and Marisa soon had a paper avalanche covering much of the floor of her house. She sighed, just another thing to deal with today. She thought about picking up the mess later but she didn't like the thought of all those volatile magic runes touching each other. She resigned herself to gathering up the mess.

After a while, she had the catastrophe fairly organized and decided to call it done. She went to sit down in her favorite chair and read her new book when she noticed that something was not quite right. Her hat was nowhere to be seen.

Most people would not be too concerned about a misplaced hat, but Marisa was a witch, and witches did not lose their hats. It just was not done. Perhaps this would not happen if her entire house wasn't in such a state of disaster but she certainly wasn't going to tackle that huge project this very minute. So she set about finding her hat at the very least.

Under tables, between bookshelves, behind cupboards, she searched for her hat. How could it have become so hidden? She had only set it down a moment ago! She stood, confounded, until she noticed that the door to an armoire was slightly ajar. Cautiously, she opened the door.

Sitting in a very scrunched position, with her knees to her chin sat Flandre Scarlet who was wearing Marisa's hat. She giggled at the horrified look that Marisa gave her.

"You found me!" exclaimed Flandre.

"Flandre! You....but....how....why?" gasped Marisa.

"I followed a cat through the weird door and ended up here. Was it your cat?" asked Flandre, who was trying to squeeze herself out of the cramped space.

"I don't have a cat," replied Marisa, trying to calm herself while one of the most powerful and destructive people in all of Gensokyo fell out of her armoire.

"I couldn't find it anyway. And the weird dark door thing disappeared as soon as I got here," said Flandre, "You sure have a lot of stuff here."

"Y....yeah," said Marisa, "Look, shouldn't you be back at the Scarlet Mansion? Won't you get in trouble if you leave?"

The look that crossed her face was so sad that even Marisa was moved.

"Big sister hasn't been to see me in a really really long time. I got so lonely. I thought maybe she had forgotten about me. I'm real glad I ended up here though."

"Here?" asked Marisa, "Why here?"

"Because we're friends! Remember when you came over that one time? After my sister made that mist? That was fun! Let's do that again!" exclaimed Flandre.

Marisa thought back to that day, to that intense, deadly battle with the little girl who had been a little girl for 495 years.. Was that her idea of a game? Flandre was not only stark raving mad, but she didn't even know her own strength!

"Uh, you know, we've...uh...we've already played that before," said Marisa, thinking on her feet, "Why don't we play something new?"

"Like what?" asked Flandre, excitement filling her bright red eyes.

"Like...um....have you ever played Mah-Jong?"

"No. How do you play?" answered Flandre.

"I'll teach you," said Marisa, "But you've got to promise that after we're done, you'll go back home and you won't leave again without your sister's permission."

"Can I come back here if she lets me?" asked Flandre hopefully.

"Sure, sure."

They set about clearing a space to play. They sat down and Marisa went over the basics of the game of Mah-Jong. Marisa was surprised to see that Flandre, who was known to be highly unstable, was listening and paying rapt attention. Once she was certain that Flandre knew how to play, they started a real game.

After a time, it was fairly obvious that, beyond all logic, Marisa was not going to just let Flandre win. The vampire found herself thwarted in every attempt to get ahead. It seemed as though Marisa forgot who her opponent was, because she began to gloat.

"I'm not surprised you're losing so badly," the witch exclaimed, "I'm probably the best Mah-Jong player in Gensokyo."

"It's not fair!" exclaimed Flandre.

"What's not fair? I'm obeying all the rules," chided Marisa.

"I don't care! This game is stupid!" shouted Flandre.

"Hey, relax. It's not a big deal..." began Marisa.

Suddenly, Flandre swept all the tiles off of the table. They went flying across the room and scattered to the floor.

"I say it's stupid! And I hate it!" she screamed, glaring at Marisa with hate filled eyes. Marisa felt like she was on the verge of her doom if she made a wrong move. She had seen this girl's power and didn't want to provoke her in any way. She had to be very, very careful in the next few seconds.

Slowly, she walked over to where most of the thrown tiles had landed. With a mournful expression, she began to gather them.

"You know, my mother gave me this set before she died," she said, picking up the pieces. She didn't dare look at Flandre but she could hear the girl's raspy, enraged breathing beginning to slow.

"She was the one who taught me how to play. She'd never let me win. Ever. I remember getting so mad at her. But, you know, I think that might be why I'm good now. Because she wanted me to learn how to win by using my own skills and strategy."

"It's really the only thing I have to remember her by. I know they're only silly little tiles..." Marisa said, standing to look at Flandre, "...but they mean a lot to me. It hurts me to see them treated like this."

Flandre continued to stare at Marisa.

"Hasn't your mother ever given you anything?"

The silence seemed to go on for an eternity.

"Flandre?"

The girl suddenly sunk to her knees, looking like she was totally lost.

"I think my mother died. I don't know," she said in a quiet monotone voice, "Big sister never talks about it."

Marisa just stood, looking at the forlorn girl, not knowing what to do or say.

"I don't know...anything...about her," Flandre said and began to cry.

Awkwardly, Marisa sat down beside Flandre and put an arm around her as she sobbed.

"Everything's okay, Flandre. Why don't you help me pick up?" said Marisa. Wiping away her tears and sniffling, Flandre nodded. Together, they gathered all the scattered tiles and set them in their box.

"Flandre, it's time to go home now," Marisa said cautiously.

Surprisingly, Flandre nodded slowly.

"Can you take me home? I don't know the way from here," she asked.

"Sure. We can take my broom," said Marisa and she couldn't help but smile.

They took off through the night sky. Marisa knew that Flandre could fly...somehow. Those strange wings looked like they were made of wrought iron and crystals but they couldn't possibly be functional. She probably levitated the same way Reimu, Alice and plenty of other people could. Was she actually born with those wings? Did she make them herself?

Flandre laughed gleefully as they passed by a gaggle of geese once they were over the lake and clutched Marisa tighter when she almost fell. Soon enough, they were back at Scarlet Mansion. Out of respect, and knowing what would happen if she didn't, Marisa landed well outside the front gate. Together they walked up the path, and they soon saw the mansion's gatekeeper waiting for them.

"I expected her to be asleep," Flandre muttered and Marisa stifled a laugh.

Hong Meiling waved at them, smiling at Marisa...until she saw Flandre.

"Mistress Flandre! How....when did you leave?" she stammered.

"I don't know. Did Sakuya make dinner yet?" asked Flandre nonchalantly.

"I believe so. She...ah....that is..." the gatekeeper sputtered, "Let's get you inside, yes?"

"She showed up at my house somehow," Marisa answered the unasked question, "I don't know anything more than that. I don't think Flandre knows anything else, really. She mentioned something about a 'weird dark door'. You might want to get the basement checked out for portals or something. Patchouli might have cast some kind of spell with unknown effects. Who can say?"

"Ah!" exclaimed Hong. "I'll see to it that Mistress Remilia knows about this right away. Thank you very much, Marisa,"

"Do I have to go back into the basement now?" asked Flandre.

"Let's go see your sister first, okay Mistress Flandre?" replied Hong, clearly uncomfortable.

"Alright," sighed Flandre. She suddenly turned to Marisa, and with burning eyes said, "Remember your promise."

The two of them walked up to the massive mansion. Marisa gave a sigh of relief. That problem was taken care of, and thankfully without a fight. With any luck, Marisa wouldn't have to see the creepy secret of the mansion again.

She thought this to herself on the flight back to her house. Once home, she immediately got ready for bed. Once she was comfortable and under the covers, she closed her eyes but found that sleep would not come.

"I don't know...anything...I think my mother died....big sister hasn't been to see me..." Flandre's words echoed in her mind. Something just didn't sit right with Marisa. It left a bad taste in her mouth, so to speak. There was an unsolved problem in the Scarlet Mansion, which meant that there would probably be yet another incident to occur in Gensokyo.

And it might be started by Marisa this time.


End file.
